Method and system for electronic solicitation of votes affecting corporate affairs

ABSTRACT

A method, system, and program product for the electronic delivery and distribution of a solicitation for votes on shareholder issues from an issuer to a plurality of voters. The method includes creating an electronic solicitation message for the issuer; tagging the electronic solicitation message with at least one parameter to ensure the electronic solicitation message is available to the voters holding a shareholder position with the issuer; presenting the electronic solicitation message to the voters; recording and compiling a plurality of information regarding each viewing of the transmitted solicitation message; aggregating a plurality of electronic voting results from the voters; and reporting the aggregated electronic voting results to the issuer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a formalization of a previously filed,co-pending provisional patent application entitled “Method and Systemfor Electronic Solicitation of Votes Affecting Corporate Affairs,” filedon Jul. 26, 2004 as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/591,248, by theinventor named in this patent application. This patent applicationclaims the benefit of the filing date of the cited provisional patentapplication according to the statutes and rules governing provisionalpatent applications, particularly 35 USC § 119 (e)(1) and 37 CFR §§1.78(a)(4) and (a)(5). The specification and drawings of the provisionalpatent application are specifically incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the solicitation of votesfrom shareholders, bondholders, and others having a stake in governingcorporate or mutual fund affairs. More particularly, the presentinvention pertains to methods and systems for communicating directlywith shareholders and other stakeholders about to solicit votesregarding particular corporate affairs, including matters of corporategovernance and securities transactions.

Currently, if a corporation or mutual fund issuer of securities wishesto affect the outcome of a vote for its annual or special meeting, theyhire agents commonly known as “Solicitors” to contact the company'svoters and deliver a message for solicitation purposes. Typically, thiscontact is initiated by either mail or telephone. Less frequently, thecorporate issuer may perform these activities without agents by placingtheir message on their corporate web site. As an alternative, or tosupplement this activity for best results, the corporate or mutual fundissuer will purchase mass media assets (e.g., newspaper ads, radioand/or television time) that they believe will reach and affect thevoting position of their target audience, namely their voters. In thecase of contested elections, dissident voters will act in the samemanner as the corporate issuers in attempting to influence the voters.

Institutional voters may have significant relationships (commercialbanking, investment banking or pension fund management) with thecompanies whose stocks or bonds they hold in their investmentportfolios. The ‘push’ solicitation methodology currently employed,whereby a voter is contacted directly by or on behalf of a corporateissuer, is fraught with potential conflicts of interest. These conflictscan arise because solicitation activity directed at the institutionalvoter in the traditional fashion opens the possibility that the businessinterests (either to gain new or retain current business from thecompany in question) could influence the voting decision.

Other than corporate websites, there are no electronic or Internet-basedmethods and systems which can act as a “one-way mirror” for informationin a ‘pull’ scenario; that being that the information is available tothe voter but is only usable if a deliberate action is taken to retrieveand act upon it in private and without undue influence by the corporateor mutual fund issuer.

Thus, corporations and mutual fund companies have been searching for asolution to the inefficiency and expense associated with postal mail andtelephone communications to voters related to meetings, corporategovernance, regulatory or compliance matters, mergers, acquisitions,takeovers, written consents, proxy contests, or simply dissemination ofinformation to voters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a business process using electronicmeans, to include multiple current and evolving Internet technologies,to provide and disseminate solicitation information on behalf ofcorporate stock and bond issuers (foreign or domestic) or dissidentshareholders for the purpose of affecting the outcome of voting oncorporate events, be it proxy voting for annual meetings, specialmeetings, takeovers, proxy fights or other voting events as defined bythe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or equivalent foreignentities. The process and method also includes the electronic deliveryof communications that apprise or educate voters of any event orcircumstance that may materially affect their investment in thecorporation or mutual fund company.

The present invention utilizes the Internet (or similar electronicdistribution methodology) as a portal for corporate or mutual fundissuers or their dissident shareholders to submit corporate governancesolicitation into the system for viewing by investors or their agents.

The present invention provides a portal for other stock, fund orbondholders, who have received a username and password (or similar),which gives them the opportunity to view and/or listen to thesolicitation via the Internet (or similar electronic distributionmethodology) in the privacy of their office, home or other locationwithout other direct contact from the issuer or its agents. Such rightsto view and/or listen to such material will be granted only to thosestock, fund or bondholders who have voting rights for that particularsecurity.

The present invention responds via paper or electronic reports to thecorporate or mutual fund issuer showing “up to date” voting results sothat the company or fund management can assess the momentum of the vote.This information allows them to be proactive if the vote is goingagainst them by providing additional solicitation material as manyinvestors will change their votes if presented with compelling evidenceof a proxy proposal's benefit to them.

The electronic delivery and distribution process and method provides acost effective, personalized and timely communication via electronicmeans of text, audio or streaming video messages from corporations andmutual fund companies or other constituents while attending to animportant need by voters to maintain their confidentiality as voters andas receiving solicitation.

In one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for the electronicdelivery and distribution of a solicitation of votes on shareholderissues from an issuer to voters. The method includes creating anelectronic solicitation message for the issuer; tagging the electronicsolicitation message with at least one parameter to ensure theelectronic solicitation message is available to the voters holding ashareholder position with the issuer; presenting the electronicsolicitation message to the voters; recording and compiling a pluralityof information regarding each viewing of the transmitted solicitationmessage; aggregating a plurality of electronic voting results from thevoters; and reporting the aggregated electronic voting results to theissuer.

In another aspect of the invention, a system is provided for theelectronic delivery and distribution of a solicitation for votes onshareholder issues from an issuer to a plurality of voters. The systemincludes a proxy voting platform for creating an electronic solicitationmessage for the issuer, for tagging the electronic solicitation messagewith at least one parameter to validate that a voter is authorized toreceive the electronic message, for presenting the electronicsolicitation message to the authorized voters and recording andreporting a plurality of electronic voting results and viewinginformation for each access to the electronic solicitation message bythe voters. This system also includes a user interface to the proxyvoting platform that enables the issuer and the authorized voter toaccess the electronic solicitation message and to receive reports. Thesystem further includes a database for storing a plurality of electronicsolicitation messages, electronic voting results, and viewinginformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other advantages and aspects of the present invention willbecome apparent and more readily appreciated from the following detaileddescription of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, as follows.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the electronic solicitation systemin an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram representing the overall sequence ofprocess steps and activities in an exemplary embodiment the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of the sequence of steps of theelectronic solicitation process in an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram providing additional functionaldetail of the software modules and functions of the Proxy VotingPlatform in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram showing the software modules andcomponents of the Proxy Voting Platform and application in an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a display of the initial screen presented to a userafter system login in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a display of a meeting list screen presented to asystem user after the user selects the “meeting list” link on the screenof FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 illustrates a display of a voting screen presented to a systemuser after the user selects a particular “meeting” link from the meetinglist of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates a display of a video issuer message screen presentedto a system user after the user selects the “Issuer Message” link on thevoting screen of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 illustrates a display of a text issuer message screen presentedto a system user after the user selects the “Issuer Message” link on thevoting screen of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description of the invention is provided as an enablingteaching of the invention and its best, currently known embodiment.Those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes can be made tothe embodiments described while still obtaining the beneficial resultsof the present invention. It will also be apparent that some of thedesired benefits of the present invention can be obtained by selectingsome of the features of the present invention without utilizing otherfeatures. Accordingly, those who work in the art will recognize thatmany modifications and adaptations of the invention are possible and mayeven be desirable in certain circumstances and are part of the presentinvention. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrativeof the principles of the invention and not in limitation thereof sincethe scope of the present invention is defined by the claims.

Definitions

Agents—Organizations acting on behalf of corporations, mutual fundcompanies, custodian banks and brokers, institutions, voters. Forexample, solicitors and transfer agents act on behalf of corporationsand mutual funds or other interested parties such as dissidentshareholders or opposition groups while voting agents act on behalf ofinstitutions.

Beneficial Owners—Shareholders and bondholders (voters) who have theirstock or bonds held in custody at a Custodian Bank or Brokerage Firm.

Constituents—Any party involved in the process of disseminatingcorporate communications. This includes corporations, mutual fundcompanies, institutions, shareholders, bondholders, transfer agents,solicitors, proxy agents, voting agents, proxy advisors, and any otherinterested party.

Corporation/Corporate Issuer—Publicly-traded corporations and mutualfund companies.

Creator/Message Creator—The creator of a message, which may or may notbe the sender. The message creator designs the message in any format,such as text, audio, video, etc.

Electronic Distribution or Delivery of Communication from Management orOther Shareholders—Providing access to electronic text, audio, and/orvideo content (collectively referred to as “solicitation content”) bymeans of embedding the solicitation content in an electronic proxyballot, providing one or more links to the solicitation content in anelectronic ballot or electronic voting platform, and/or pushing thesolicitation content (or links thereto) directly to shareholders orbondholders by electronic mail.

E-Solicitation or Electronic Solicitation—Each and every electronicmeans of communication concerning the impact of securities, andexchanged between shareholders and/or any party impacted by the value,actions, and results of a corporate action and any corporate issuerand/or any of its subsidiaries, contractors, and/or interested partiesthat may have interest in the securities of such corporation or mutualfund company. Thus, “electronic solicitation” includes each and everymessage sent in any form of electronic original format and/or deliveryeither: (a) from a sender or an agent acting on their behalf (acorporation, mutual fund company or other interested party affected byactions of the corporation or mutual fund company-such as shareholders,bondholders, other companies interested in the value of the corporateissuer securities, etc.; or (b) to a shareholder or bondholder or anyother recipient determined by the sender. The purpose of such electronicsolicitation can be to provide information, encourage voting, orpersuade voting decisions.

Electronic Solicitation Services—The electronic distribution or deliveryof communication from corporate management, mutual fund management orother shareholders to shareholders or bondholders for the purpose ofsoliciting a specific vote result in relation to annual meetings,corporate governance, regulatory or compliance matters, mergers,acquisitions, takeovers, written consents, proxy contests, spin-offs,de-mutualizations or bankruptcies. Electronic Solicitation Services canalso encompass any communication to apprise or educate investors aboutany event or circumstance that may materially affect the company orfind.

Issuers—Corporations and Mutual Fund Companies.

Message—Any communication from a message “sender” to a message“recipient.”

Message format—Any format other than mail or telephone formats,including video, audio, text, physical, analog, digital, verbal or anyother electronic format as well as any future distribution format.

Notification—The actual message to be delivered to the recipient inelectronic format and directions for accessing the message.

Plan Sponsor—A shareowner that hires an institution to manage and voteon their behalf. Plan Sponsors will periodically request reports on howthe institution has voted.

Recipient—Any constituent determined by the sender to be the receiver ofa message and/or access to a message (i.e. shareholders, bondholders,voting agents, proxy advisors, etc.).

Sender—A constituent (e.g., corporations, mutual fund companies,stockholders or bondholders, and/or any other constituent on behalf ofstockholders and/or bondholders) or an agent acting on their behalf. Thesender shall have the authority to send a message, although it may ormay not participate in the creation of the message. The sender may ormay not know the identity of all recipients. If not, identityinformation will be provided to Electronic Solicitation System Providerfrom other sources such as custodian banks or brokerage firms. (i.e.shareholders who are beneficial owners, registered through a custodianbank).

Solicitation Content—Text, audio, video or other corporate communicationfrom a corporation or mutual fund company, or agent acting on theirbehalf.

Voter—shareholders and bondholders or their agents voting on theirbehalf (i.e. voting agents and advisors).

Publicly traded corporations are required by law to hold one meeting peryear. This meeting serves the purpose of acquiring shareholder and/orbondholder approval on proposals pertaining to the corporation'smanagement and operations or other corporate actions. Aside from therequired annual meeting, corporations also hold other meetings andconsent solicitations whenever shareholder and/or bondholder approval isrequired for additional purposes, i.e. takeovers, proxy fights, etc.Conventionally, the process proceeds as follows: (a) a meeting is set bya corporation or mutual fund company or mandated by another institutionin the case of a special/extraordinary meeting; (b) a corporation ormutual fund company, or other interested party, submits filingspertinent to such meeting; (c) a meeting requires votes of shareholders,bondholders, either all types or only a group, as designed by thecorporation or mutual fund company or other interested party. Because ofthe significant economic impact of the voting results, corporations ormutual funds elect to hire special agents in order to facilitate theannual meeting material distribution and voting process.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a corporation, mutual fund company,and/or any other interested party (i.e., voters interested inshareholder proposals or other corporations in the case of takeoverproposal, etc) desires to convince voters to vote either for certainproposal(s), against certain proposal(s), abstain from certainproposal(s), or withhold their votes from certain proposal(s). Thecorporation also may have an interest in providing additionalinformation about the meeting directly to voters pertinent to thatparticular meeting and/or in disseminating information about thecorporation or mutual fund unrelated to the meeting.

The core functionality of the system is provided by a Proxy VotingPlatform 20 (software) shown generally on FIG. 1 and in more detail onFIGS. 4 and 5. The system can obtain needed data from a variety of datasources, as identified in blocks 11 through 19. In addition tocoordinating the delivery and viewing of messages and ballots, thesystem also uses voting data to assemble and deliver voting results tothe Issuer 12, to a corporate plan sponsor 13, and to a vote tabulator14.

More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the present inventionincludes a Proxy Voting Platform 20 that is provided by the ElectronicSolicitation System Provider. Data sources 11–19 provide inputs to ProxyVoting Platform 20. The inputs depicted on the input lines includemeeting notification data, ballot data, share positions frominstitutions 13, share positions from custodian banks 14, analysis andrecommendations, issuer data, securities data and solicitations. Voter10 interacts with the Proxy Voting Platform to direct custodians, viewthe analysis and recommendations, view solicitations, submit votes,contact custodians, discuss issues electronically and receive reports.Outputs from the Proxy Voting Platform include electronic reports sentto the SEC 41, electronic reports sent to the corporate issuer 42,electronic reports sent to the plan sponsor 43, and vote results sentelectronically to the vote tabulator 44.

The overall operational sequence of the electronic solicitation processof the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2. The ElectronicSolicitation System Provider (ESSP) gathers information and performs thesteps labeled Prerequisite Information 200, Client Actions 210, SharePosition Information 220 and Ballot and Related Information 230.Prerequisite information 200 includes the steps of obtaining corporateissuer information 202 and obtaining securities information 204. Clientactions 210 includes the voter becoming a client of the ESSP (i.e.,SwingVote in the figure) in step 212, and the voter directing custodiansto submit share positions to the ESSP in step 214. Share positioninformation 220 includes the ESSP requesting and obtaining custodianshare positions of voters as of the record date for upcoming shareholdermeetings in step 222. Ballot and related information includes the steps232–240 shown in FIG. 2. The ESSP obtains shareholder meetingnotification data in step 232. Ballot information pertaining to upcomingmeetings is obtained in step 234. The ESSP obtains analysis informationpertaining to ballot proposals in step 236. The ESSP obtains votingpolicy and recommendation information pertaining to ballot proposals instep 238. The ESSP obtains solicitation messages from a corporation,mutual fund or shareholder in step 240.

The voter performs the steps illustrated in block 250. The voter viewsanalysis in step 252, views recommendations in step 254, viewssolicitations in step 256, submits votes in step 258, contactscustodians in the event of a discrepancy in step 260, discusses issues262 via the Proxy Voting platform and receives reports 264 via the ProxyVoting Platform, The ESSP, through the medium of the Proxy VotingPlatform, performs the steps illustrated in block 270. The ESSP send thevote results to a vote tabulator in step 272, send reports to the SEC instep 274, sends reports to the corporate issuer in step 276 and sendsreports to the Plan Sponsor in step 278.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of the sequence of steps of theelectronic solicitation process. In logic block 300, a corporation,mutual find or a shareholder makes a decision to solicit shareholders inregards to a voting event. This is followed in logic block 304 with theselection of the ESSP for electronic solicitation services. Asolicitation message is then created in logic block 308 and received bythe ESSP in logic block 312. The ESSP tags solicitation messages withspecific parameters to ensure the message is available to the correctvoters in logic block 316. The solicitation messages are then input intothe ESSP Proxy Voting platform in logic block 320. The solicitationmessages are allowed to be viewed only by the voters using the ProxyVoting Platform holding shares in the Issuer as indicated in logic block324.

The voter views the solicitation message as presented in the ProxyVoting Platform as indicated in logic block 328. This is followed withthe voter using the Proxy Voting platform to vote as indicated in logicblock 332. The ESSP records specific details concerning the viewing ofthe electronic solicitation message as indicated in logic block 336. TheProxy Voting Platform compiles message viewing statistics in aggregatein logic block 340. Aggregated, anonymous viewing data is then reportedby the ESSP Proxy Voting Platform to the corporation, mutual fund orshareholder while protecting the privacy of the voter. This finalprocess is indicated in logic block 344.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, and as used inthe electronic solicitation process of FIG. 3, the constituentattempting to reach voters and/or other interested parties about thecorporation decides to deliver a message via electronic solicitation,thus becoming a Sender. Then, a message is created in any format (voice,audio, video, text, etc.) by the message Creator. The Creator may or maynot be also the Sender. The Sender shall have the authority to send amessage although it had no participation in the creation of themessage).

The Sender or message Creator, acting on behalf of the sender, sends themessage to the Electronic Solicitation System Provider (sometimesreferred to herein and in the drawings as “Swingvote”) via any messageformat. Alternatively, the Electronic Solicitation System Providerretrieves such message from the Sender or Creator, along with recipiente-mail addresses, if necessary. The Sender or Creator may or may notsupply the Electronic Solicitation System Provider with the necessaryaddress and additional information to reach the Recipients viaelectronic delivery. The Electronic Solicitation System Providerreceives the message and either transforms the original message into anelectronic format or maintains the message in its original format.

Next, the Electronic Solicitation System Provider transmits the messageelectronically to the recipient group desired by the Sender, and/or theElectronic Solicitation System Provider makes the message available tobe retrieved by the Recipients via electronic notification of theavailability of such message.

The Electronic Solicitation System Provider invoices the Sender formessages sent and realizes proceeds from the remittance of message andnot for the delivery of such.

The message may or may not be retrieved by the Recipient. For everyrecipient successfully receiving the message and/or notification byElectronic Solicitation System Provider of the existence andavailability of this message, the recipient can choose whether or not toread, view or listen to the message. Additionally, the recipient has achoice of whether or not to act upon receiving the message.

FIG. 4 illustrates, in block diagram form, additional functional detailsof the software modules and functions of the Proxy Voting Platform.Constituents, represented by block 40, use the Proxy Voting Platform(block 20) to reach voters 10 with messages 30. Electronic solicitationmessages are generated by the Proxy Voting Platform 20 and aggregatedstatistical data on voting results are reported to the constituent 40.The Proxy Voting Platform modules include, but are not limited to,message tagging module 24, message presentation module 28, detailedstatistics gathering module 26 and aggregate statistics reporting module22.

The message tagging module 24 tags each message with issuer and meetingidentifiers. This enables only those voters holding positions for theissuer as of the record date to view the electronic solicitation. Thedashed line in Proxy Voting Platform block 20 represents the “one-waymirror” that shields the identity of the voter 10 from the constituents40. Message presentation module 28 validates the right of the voter toview or listen to the electronic solicitation message. Detailedstatistics gathering module 26 processes the votes for each voter. Thevoting results are accumulated by aggregated statistics reporting module22 which send reports electronically to the constituents 40.

A voter 10 who wants to view the solicitation message connects to thesystem using a log-in screen at a web page maintained by the ElectronicSolicitation System Provider. After the user presents proper log-incredentials, the user is presented with a system start screen 62 asshown on FIG. 6. When the user selects the “Meeting List” link 64 onFIG. 6, a list of one or more “meetings” associated with one or morecorporate matters in which that user has ownership is presented to theuser as illustrated in FIG. 7.

Preferably, the message will contain a link to a solicitation messagefrom the Sender. The availability of a solicitation message is indicatedon the Meeting List display 70 of FIG. 7. The user can also select thename of the “Issuer” 74 on the Meeting List display 70 of FIG. 7, whichwill then take the user to the electronic ballot page for thatparticular meeting. One example of such a ballot page 80 is shown inFIG. 8, wherein the meeting and ballot pertains to the election of boardof directors. While viewing the ballot page 80 of FIG. 8, the user canselect the “Issuer Message” link 82. This link will take the user to aaudio or video issuer solicitation message 92 displayed in a window onIssuer message display 90 of FIG. 9 or to a text message on the issuermessage display 100 of FIG. 10. Before or after viewing an issuersolicitation message, the user can vote on the issue in questiondirectly on the electronic ballot page display 80 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Proxy Voting Platformapplication and software as used in the present invention. Because thesystem is web-based application, conventional “n-tier” architecture isused, including a presentation tier 50, business tier 52, data tier 54,and file storage tier 56. N-tier software architecture is well known tothose skilled in the art of computer programming and will not bediscussed in any detail herein. Presentation tier 50 includes, but isnot limited to, web user interface module 51 and object server module53. Business tier 52 includes, but is not limited to, object servermodule 55 and data access module 57 for accessing data stored indatabases in the data tier 54. The data tier 54 includes a plurality ofdatabases 59. File storage tier 56 includes a plurality of data files61. The Proxy Voting Platform also includes application integrationmodule 60 and reporting module 58.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans plus function elements in any claims below are intended to includeany structure, material, or acts for performing the function incombination with other claim elements as specifically claimed.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications to theexemplary embodiment are possible without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention. In addition, it is possible to use someof the features of the present invention without the corresponding useof the other features. Accordingly, the foregoing description of theexemplary embodiment is provided for the purpose of illustrating theprinciples of the present invention and not in limitation thereof sincethe scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appendedclaims.

1. A method for the electronic delivery and distribution of asolicitation for votes on shareholder issues from an issuer orauthorized party to a plurality of voters comprising the steps of:creating an electronic solicitation message wherein the electronicsolicitation message includes an electronic proxy ballot and asolicitation content; tagging the electronic solicitation message withat least one parameter to ensure the electronic solicitation message isavailable to the voters holding a shareholder position with the issuer;presenting the electronic solicitation message to the voters; enablingthe voters to view the solicitation content anonymously: recording andcompiling a plurality of information regarding each confidential viewingof the transmitted electronic solicitation message by the voters;aggregating a plurality of confidential electronic voting resultsreceived from the voters; and reporting the aggregated electronic votingresults to the issuer or authorized party.
 2. The method for theelectronic delivery and distribution of claim 1 further comprising thesteps of obtaining a plurality of corporate and securities information.3. The method for the electronic delivery and distribution of claim 1wherein the solicitation content is embedded in the electronic proxyballot.
 4. The method for the electronic delivery and distribution ofclaim 1 wherein the electronic solicitation message includes a link to asolicitation content.
 5. The method for the electronic delivery anddistribution of claim 1 wherein the solicitation content comprises atleast one of a video communication, an audio communication, and a textcommunication from the issuer or authorized party.
 6. The method for theelectronic delivery and distribution of claim 1 further comprising thestep of transmitting the voting results to a vote tabulator.
 7. Themethod for the electronic delivery and distribution of claim 1 furthercomprising the step of transmitting the voting results to a plansponsor.
 8. The method for the electronic delivery and distribution ofclaim 1 further comprising the step of transmitting the voting resultsto a government agency.
 9. The method for the electronic delivery anddistribution of claim 1 wherein the step of presenting the electronicsolicitation message comprises transmitting a notification of thesolicitation message to the voters and validating that each voterreceiving the notification is authorized to view the solicitationmessage.
 10. The method for the electronic delivery and distribution ofclaim 1 further comprising the steps of receiving analysis informationand voting policy recommendations relating to a proposal on anelectronic proxy ballot and providing the received information andpolicy recommendations to the voters electronically.
 11. The method forthe electronic delivery and distribution of claim 1 wherein theauthorized party includes a dissident shareholder or any partyauthorized by a government agency.
 12. A system for the electronicdelivery and distribution of a solicitation for votes on shareholderissues from an issuer or authorized party to a plurality of voterscomprising: a proxy voting platform for creating an electronicsolicitation message wherein the electronic solicitation messageincludes an electronic proxy ballot and a solicitation content, fortagging the electronic solicitation message with at least one parameterto validate that a voter is authorized to receive the electronicmessage, for presenting the electronic solicitation message to theauthorized voters and recording and reporting a plurality ofconfidential electronic voting results and viewing information for eachconfidential access to the electronic solicitation message by thevoters; a user interface to the proxy voting platform that enables eachauthorized voter to access the electronic solicitation contentanonymously; and a database for storing a plurality of electronicsolicitation messages, electronic voting results and viewinginformation.
 13. The system for the electronic delivery and distributionof claim 12 wherein the database stores a plurality of ballot data,share position information, ballot proposal analysis information, votingpolicy recommendations, and issuer and securities information.
 14. Thesystem for the electronic delivery and distribution of claim 12 whereinthe proxy voting platform further comprises a plurality of modules fortagging and presenting the electronic solicitation message to thevoters.
 15. The system for the electronic delivery and distribution ofclaim 12 wherein the proxy voting platform further comprises a detailedstatistics module for gathering the electronic voting results from eachauthorized voter.
 16. The system for the electronic delivery anddistribution of claim 12 wherein the proxy voting platform furthercomprises an aggregate statistics reporting module that accumulateselectronic voting results from the plurality of voters and provides theaggregated electronic voting results to the issuer or authorized party.17. The system for the electronic delivery and distribution of claim 12wherein the solicitation content comprises at least one of a videocommunication, an audio communication, and a text communication from theissuer.
 18. The system for the electronic delivery and distribution ofclaim 12 wherein the authorized party includes a dissident shareholderor any party authorized by a government agency.
 19. A computer programproduct for enabling an electronic delivery and distribution of asolicitation for votes on shareholder issues from an issuer orauthorized party to a plurality of voters, comprising a computerreadable medium having computer readable code embedded therein, thecomputer readable medium comprising: program instructions that enablecreation of an electronic solicitation message wherein the electronicsolicitation message includes an electronic proxy ballot and asolicitation content; program instructions that tag the electronicsolicitation message with at least one parameter to ensure that theelectronic solicitation message is available to the voters holding ashareholder position with the issuer; program instructions that presentelectronic solicitation messages to the voters; program instructionsthat enable the voters to view the solicitation content anonymously;program instructions that record and compile a plurality of informationregarding each confidential viewing of the transmitted electronicsolicitation message by the voters; program instructions that aggregatea plurality of confidential electronic voting results received from thevoters; and program instructions that report the aggregated electronicvoting results to the issuer or authorized party.
 20. The computerprogram product of claim 19 wherein the program instructions thatpresent the electronic solicitation message comprise programinstructions that transmit a notification of the solicitation message tothe voters, and program instructions that validate that each voterreceiving the notification is authorized to view the solicitationmessage.
 21. The computer program product for the electronic deliveryand distribution of claim 19 wherein the authorized party includes adissident shareholder or any party authorized by a government agency.22. The computer program product for the electronic delivery anddistribution of claim 19 wherein the computer readable medium is hostedon a proxy platform.